Quote:
Originally Posted by honte
^ So, by virtue of this development and Riverbend, are we making the chances of a grade separation at Canal virtually impossible?
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I can envision how it could be grade-separated with Canal dipping under the tracks, with ground-level service drives to access the Left Bank and Riverbend buildings, but given the many factors of the site I also envision it being so absurdly expensive that it would be only justified as the political response to some horrific accident (or possibly some more quality pork like the totally over-engineered but swanky North Ave bridge).
Better would be to just eliminate the level crossing: Canal St from Lake, and Canal St from Kinzie would be disconnected and for local traffic only, with maybe a pedestrian bridge going over the tracks, though the ADA-accessibility requirement would make this too a costly endeavor. The nearby Clinton underpass would be the bi-directional path for cars to get across the railroad ROW (with northbound traffic via that short section of Milwaukee). Ideally the whole project would be bundled with, and thereby funded with, the eventual Carroll Ave. transitway project.